Slain Baby`s Parents Now Prime Suspects

May 06, 1989|By Michael Tackett, Chicago Tribune.

ALTON, ILL. — An infant`s sleeper, hair samples in a freezer and some black plastic garbage bags led police Friday to say that the parents of a baby girl whose body was found in a garbage can now are the principal suspects in the killing. Authorities also disclosed that 6-week-old Heather Sims died of asphyxiation and that her body, wrapped in a black plastic trash bag, had been nearly frozen before being dumped in the garbage can Wednesday night.

The evidence was gathered Thursday night after search warrants were issued for the home of the parents, Robert and Paula Sims of Alton, and the dead baby`s maternal grandparents, who live nearby in Bethalto.

In light of the developments, Madison County State`s Atty. William Haine also ordered that the Simses` other child, 15-month-old Randy, be taken into custody by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services pending a hearing next week.

The decision to take the child into state custody was ``based upon information that we received last night that Randy Sims might be in jeopardy,`` said Sgt. Rick McCain of the Alton Police Department, which is heading the investigation.

``The focus on the investigation is in the area of the family at this time. It includes Robert and Paula Sims,`` McCain said. But police said arrest warrants had not been issued.

Donald Groshong, a lawyer retained by the Simses, said: ``Our policy is not to comment on pending cases except to say that Mr. and Mrs. Sims deny any wrongdoing in this tragic situation. Our clients hope police will continue their investigation with an open mind so that the guilty party may be apprehended.``

Groshong also said police told the family that ``there is so much pressure from the media that someone will have to be charged with something.`` The troubling case is especially noteworthy because the Simses had told police that Heather was abducted last Saturday by a masked gunman who struck Mrs. Sims unconscious. On Friday, police said they had discounted that story. The couple`s account was quite similar to one they gave authorities three years ago when their first daughter, 13-day-old Loralei, was reported abducted by a masked gunman.

The Simses also were suspects in that case, according to Jersey County Sheriff Frank Yocom, who headed that investigation. Yocom said both parents failed a lie-detector test and invoked their 5th Amendment protections against self-incrimination before a county grand jury. They were not charged, Yocom said, because he could not gather sufficient evidence. The case remains open. Police questioned Robert Sims for about six hours late Thursday.

``Mr. Sims was cool and calculating during the interview and we got along fine,`` McCain said.

Paula Sims, who came to the police station with her husband, stayed for only about five minutes, authorities said. Police and the prosecutor said both came voluntarily.

Yocom, who also is aiding this investigation, said police obtained an infant`s sleeper that matched the description of the one her mother last reported her wearing, and collected human hair samples and the garbage bags from the grandparents` home. They also took hair and fiber samples from both locations.

Much of the evidence is being sent to an FBI forensic laboratory in Washington.

The garbage bag in which Heather`s body was placed could be the key piece of evidence, some authorities said. The body still was frozen when it was found, raising suspicion among some authorities about whether whoever left it in the trash can actually wanted it to be found. The can was close to the Mississippi River on the Missouri side.

``If they find prints on the bag that was in the barrel, that`s darn good evidence,`` said Yocom, who has been troubled for more than three years by the fact that Loralei`s case remained unsolved for lack of good physical evidence. Yocom said Loralei and Heather had been healthy infants.